The laughter of the triumphant seemed to overpower the tears of the defeated in Harvard Yard yesterday, as first-years shared the results of their housing lottery.

As always, some were disappointed with the house name that appeared on the notification slip they found on their doorsteps yesterday morning, but most seemed content with their house assignments.

"People seem to be pretty happy," said Crystal A. Redd '98.

Redd, who received number 3 out of 375 in the lottery, said she was up working on a paper at 8:30 yesterday morning when her blockmates called to tell her that she had been assigned to Currier House--an assignment that made Redd "very happy," she said.

"The distance doesn't really matter," Redd said. "I just think [the Quad is] pretty."

Redd also said she knows several students who already live in Currier, as well as other first-years who have also been assigned to the house.

Though Redd said her blocking group really wanted to live in the Quad, they also wouldn't have minded if they had been assigned to their fourth choice, Kirkland House.

"As long as we were together, it didn't matter," she said.

In one of the more ironic twists in yesterday's housing drama, Garrick V. Lau '98 and his five blockmates chose four river houses only to be informed today that they had been randomized into Cabot House.

However, his roommate Husani K. Barnwell '98, who had wanted to live in the Quad, was informed this morning that hewould spend the next three years in his blockinggroup's fourth choice, the ever-popular KirklandHouse.

"There's the prospect for trading," Lau said,"But of course that's not allowed."

Though initially disappointed, Lau said hisblocking group made the trek to the Quad yesterdayand decided that Cabot isn't so bad.

"Now we see why they wanted the Quad," Lausaid.

Adding to the strain of the housing lottery, agroup of upperclassmen decided to have some funwith the stressed-out first-years awaiting theirresults.

The Crimson business board distributed severalfake letters notifying its first-year compers andeditors that they had been assigned to CurrierHouse.

Rachel Rosenthal '98, who is a Crimson editor,said the suspicious envelope was slipped under herdoor at 1:30 a.m. yesterday.

When Rosenthal and her roommates opened it,they found a sheet of paper saying essentially,"We are informing you that you're in Currier andit's a swell place, and if you give us $25, youcan re-enter the lottery," she recalls.

Though there may have been a few moments ofpanic, the timing and content of the door-dropwere hints that the letter might not belegitimate, Rosenthal said.

"We realized it was a joke." she said.

Rosenthal said she was happy to discover thismorning that she and her blockmates would beliving in Lowell House--and not Currier--nextyear.

Though the move to the housing system oftenmeans a radical change for the typical first-yearlifestyle, some first-years discovered yesterdaythat their future house will be teeming withfamiliar faces.

Sushant Srinivasan '98 said he was on his wayback from a chemistry exam yesterday morning whena friend told him that he and the other 13 membersof his blocking group had been assigned to AdamsHouse.

"I was really happy," Srinivasan said. "It wasone of my top choices."

Later on, Srinivasan discovered that a grandtotal of 10 other people out of 28 living inHollis South had also been assigned to Adams.

"I was kind of surprised," Srinivasan said."I'm glad, though,"

Scott E. Liston '98, along with other membersof his blocking group, was the happy recipient oflottery number 1.

The blocking group of seven will live inWinthrop House next year.

When he opened the envelope this morning,Liston said, he was surprised to discover he hadgotten both one of his first choice houses and theprime number in the housing lottery.

"I kind of laughed," Liston said. When hecalled the other six members of his group at 8:30a.m. to tell them the good news, "they were gladand surprised," he said.

University housing officials were not availablefor comment yesterday